Settling In
by NatureGirl52180
Summary: The night after Talpa's first defeat, Mia is finding it hard to sleep. She's not the only one.


Hi there! Just a little something that wanted to be written. I loved Ronin Warriors when it was on, but drat, it has long since left the cartoon network. Please forgive me if my interpretation of the characters doesn't fit the norm (especially in Mia's case. I mean come on, have you any idea what it is really like to live with five guys? You gotta be a little tough!)

Uhhhhh, disclaimer thingy: Don't own them. Don't sue me. It's a pointless and useless act, I assure you. Why? Because I haven't a nickel to my name.

Settling In

With a deep sigh, Mia Koji settled back into the thick layer of bubbles and inhaled the deep scent of lavender that rose from the warm water. It was helping, a little. Tired muscles relaxed and a peace settled over her mind. It was over now, at least for the time being.

But not for long. The enemy had only been beaten back, not destroyed and he would return this time with the strength of blind fury to spur him on. Unbidden, the images of the past few days invaded the tranquility she had allowed herself to sink into, more brutal and forceful then before: the cold, the fear, the smell of death and the ever present feeling of dread that had loomed over her since the day her grandfather had sent her to fetch Ryo from Toyoma.

Grandfather. That did it. There would be no sleeping for her tonight and there was no point in wasting her time with aromatherapy. The only cure for her restlessness would be time, which came as little comfort to her as she stepped from the bath tub and began to towel off. She was more tired than she had ever known she could be and sleep was beyond her ability. That fact was enough to bring her to the very brink.

Mia leaned against the sink and put a hand to her forehead, willing the tears to stay back and failing. The urge to scream and punch welled up inside her as she fought to understand a situation that up until a few days ago would have been beyond the realm of believability. Mystical armors and evil warlords were things of legend, found in dusty volumes that she loved to turn through in the library as she helped her grandfather with his research. Epic battles between good and evil were for children's fantasies to be acted out on warm summer days where the dark forces couldn't ever possibly triumph in the brilliant light of the sun.

But suddenly, it had been real. Far too real. The prophecies had leapt from the pages of her books and none of the atrocities promised had been missed. People had died and her world had nearly been destroyed by the merciless hand of a creature so bent on power that nothing would stop him. With his armies of spirits and his warlords, Talpa had attacked.

And all that stood between him and victory were five teenagers, the keepers of the Ronin armor. In the beginning, they hadn't even been sure of what the armor was capable of. Still, there were more questions to answer and Mia hadn't the slightest clue where to find those answers. The foremost authority was dead, leaving them to continue the trial and error route that had nearly cost them on more than one occasion.

"The key word is 'nearly', Mia." She thought as she wiped away her tears with a thumb. They were all here, all alive. The guys had defeated Talpa and his warlords, driving them back to the Nether Realm. Already she had heard Rowen say that if need be, they'd just do it again, if that is what they had to do. He had made it sound so simple, smiling lopsidedly at her as he said it. She knew it would not be that easy.

It wouldn't help to cry about it that was for sure. Gaining her composure, Mia slid into her soft flannel pajamas, taking the small pleasure in wearing something clean and fresh. What a delight it had been to clean up in a real bathroom. It had been ages since she had been able to bathe properly, or even change her clothes. It was nice to be civilized again.

Mia gathered her discarded garments and dropped them in the hamper before leaving the steam filled bathroom behind her. A glance at the tall grandfather clock in the hallway told her it was well after two in the morning. She should really try to get some sleep.

Her bedroom wasn't her destination, though. Instead, she stopped at the second room on the right and gently turned the handle, pushing the door slowly so the old hinges didn't creak and disturb the sleeping occupant. The light from the hall streamed softly in behind her, giving Mia just enough light to see by. Yuli was curled up into a ball, looking lost and small in the large bed. A soft whimper escaped him and she withdrew slightly, afraid to wake him up. The boy had not fallen asleep easily and Mia didn't have the energy to coax him back to bed.

It brought another concern to mind. Where were Yuli's parents? People were still gaining their bearings after Talpa's hold on the city had been broken. Her only hope was that they were lost somewhere in the shuffle. But people had died, like her grandfather, and she hoped that the boy's mother and father had not shared a similar fate. For now, he was safe and fed, sleeping quietly. There was nothing more to do at the moment and she would begin to search for them tomorrow. Until then, it was a worry that she put aside as she slowly closed the bedroom door.

Mia's next stop was two doors down, the bedroom nearest the top of the stairs. The door was slightly ajar and she had but to touch it to open it wide enough to look in. At the slight squeak, the large animal on the floor raised his head from his paws to study her.

White Blaze was amazing. She had seen other tigers at the zoo or wild animal parks, but this one was most certainly different. Intelligence shown brightly behind the dark brown eyes and on more then one occasion, he had shown himself capable of making his own decisions, much to Ryo's consternation. He was loyal to a fault and willing to sacrifice anything for Ryo or any of them for that matter. He nodded to her, acknowledging her presence before adjusting himself slightly and settling back down on the floor.

Ryo hadn't moved since the rest of the Ronins had deposited him in the room hours earlier. Mia watched the rise and fall of his chest. It was steady and slow, but even, telling her that he was indeed in a deep sleep. Sage had told them that there was nothing he could do for Ryo. He wasn't in need of healing, just sleep. All they could do was wait for him to wake up.

After the appearance of the Inferno armor, Mia had been almost certain that Ryo was dead. No person could put forth that much energy and survive. She thanked the stars again that she had been wrong. Ryo was the one that she knew more about, the one that she felt closer to, for the simple reason that she had spent more time with him than any of the others.

Ryo was a bit of a mystery. His maturity belied his young age and he seemed to have the inborn ability as a leader. Every victory was rejoiced in mildly, but every defeat was taken personally. The determination he possessed was unbelievable at times and his subtle optimism was infectious on the battlefield. But he begrudgingly accepted the role, ill at ease with making decisions that could potentially harm these people whom he'd begun to call friends in such a short amount of time.

The one thing that endeared Ryo to her was the fact that with him, she had never felt like baggage. There was no weapon on the earth that would stop Talpa and guarding Mia and Yuli against the Dynasty had been just one more thing for Ryo to worry about. He had never made her feel as if this were a problem. He had taken the task seriously, keeping them both from harm's way and even exposing himself to save them on the slopes of Mt. Fuji. There was never any feeling of resentment. Ryo trusted her and drew from her limited knowledge of the armors. She was counted among his friends and she was honored by that.

A slight sound drew her attention away from Ryo. It was coming from downstairs, just barely noticeable. Someone laughing, she realized. Mia wasn't alone in her insomnia.

With one last look back at Ryo and White Blaze, Mia pulled the door shut a bit and descended the stairs silently, her curiosity getting the better of her. The low drone of voices purposefully trying to be quiet was followed by another round of laughter, a bit louder this time.

She paused at the bottom of the steps and gazed into the dimly lit living room. On the floor, around the coffee table, the other four warriors sat, Rowen dealing cards to each of them. There was quiet as they gathered their hands and arranged the cards.

"All right, who's openin'?" he asked.

Playing poker. Mia smiled as she leaned against the railing and watched the game progress. After what they had been through, Mia thought they would be dead to the world at this late hour. Yet, here they were still wide awake, keeping each other company. For what seemed like an eternity, they had watched over each other, taking care of one another. It seemed now, even with the immediate threat of danger banished that they couldn't bear to be separated from each other, if only it was six inches of bedroom wall.

"C'mon, Cye. Are you in or out?"

"What's your hurry?" The British boy seemed unperturbed by Rowen's impatience. "You seem awfully anxious to lose."

Rowen laughed. "Yeah, right. You couldn't beat this hand with a stick."

"I could beat you with a stick."

"Oooooohhhh." Kento teased in high, girlish voice. "Put the claws away, ladies."

"Your turn, rock head." Sage informed him.

"I'm in."

The banter continued in the form of light teasing and laughing. They had become so close in an amazingly short amount of time; friendships had formed in the heat of battle and were likely to last a lifetime.

Mia watched from her stairs, wishing with all her might that she could work up the courage to join them. From her outside observations, they were all people she would like to get to know better. Kento's sense of humor, while crude at times, never failed to make her smile. She found Cye's quiet confidence and dry wit endearing. Rowen was highly intelligent, the kind of person one could talk to for hours without losing interest. And Sage's sense of chivalry and gentle nature were rare to find in this day and age.

But she couldn't. It was strange, but she felt as though she would be intruding to enter the room unbidden. The nagging feeling that she was always in the way gnawed at the back of her mind. As she sat down on the stairs, Mia pulled her knees to her chest. They had each other, and there was no need to include a shy bookworm into their activities. The label was one that she hated, but one that she had lived with for many years. The four young men in the other room were her antithesis. They were bold, powerful, confident warriors. She was merely a passive girl, who would have been herded off to Talpa's castle with the rest of Toyoma's helpless population if luck had not been with her. They were probably sick of her at this point.

"I'll be right back, guys. I want to check on Ryo." Mia's head snapped up at Sage's voice and before she could move, the tall blonde warrior of the Halo stepped into the hall, catching sight of her seated on her step. "Mia?"

"Oh. . . hi Sage. . . I just checked on Ryo. He's still asleep, but he's fine." It all came out in a rush as red rose to color her cheeks.

He gazed at her quizzically. "Did we wake you up?"

"No. I, uh, was just having trouble sleeping." Geez, she felt stupid, sitting all alone on the steps like a lost little girl.

Sage, however, seemed not to notice.

"There's a lot of that going around." He settled himself on the step just below her. "I think we're all still wound too tight to go to sleep."

"I guess so." Mia hugged herself. "I can't shake the feeling that someone is still watching, you know?"

"Oh, yeah." He agreed heartily before giving her one of his famous winning smiles. "No need to worry though. You've gotta admit, this is probably the most well-guarded house in the whole of Japan."

"True. I don't know of any other security system in the neighborhood that can boast of five warriors and a tiger."

Sage smirked before turning serious. "Are you sure you're okay with this? You know, us basically taking over your house?"

"It's the least I could do for you all after what you went through to save us."

"Don't make it sound like you didn't have a hand in beating Talpa." He gave her a nudge. "We never could have done it without you, you know."

Mia felt her throat go dry. "Sure you could've."

"Come on. Do you really think Ryo could have found us all without you?"

"I just helped a little. . ."

"And what about when we went to find Kento and you led Cale away from me? That took guts Mia. I wouldn't have gotten Kento out of there without you." Mia stared wordlessly down, drawing shapes in the carpet with her finger. "I hate to tell you this, but your part of the team, whether you like it or not."

Mia smiled and shook her head as Cye poked his head from the living room. "Sage? Hey Mia! I thought you went to bed."

Sage turned to her. "Do you know how to play poker?"

Mia was taken aback by the question and stumbled over the answer. "Kind of. . ."

"Wanna play a couple of hands?" Cye asked. "The more the merrier."

"Come on." Sage stood up and offered her a hand to pull her off the steps. "Don't worry, we aren't playing for anything important."

"Hi Mia." Rowen smiled when she entered the room as he once again shuffled the cards. "Hope we weren't being to noisy."

"No. I was up."

"How's Ryo?"

"Tired. I think he'll probably stay in bed for a week." Mia sat down on the floor across the table from him as Sage and Cye settled back in themselves. A chuckle escaped her when she saw what the guys had been using for the pot. "My saltwater taffy?"

"It's not like we have a whole lot of money to play with." Rowen replied sheepishly. "We're just borrowing it, not eating it." His gaze shifted to Cye, whose blue eyes went wide as he stopped chewing and quickly hid the small piece of wax paper in his hand. "Well, we haven't eaten too much of it, anyway."

"It's all right." Mia said. "Just don't eat all the peppermint ones. They're my favorite."

"No problem."

"Hey, what about a game of strip poker?" Kento spoke up again as he teased Mia. "It could get interesting."

"Dude," Sage wrinkled his nose distastefully. "That streak of yours has got to end sometime and with our luck, that'll be when you've bet every stitch of clothing on your body."

"And the last thing we need to see at this hour is your big white butt." Cye put in as Rowen snorted.

Mia muttered under her breath, but Sage caught it. He lifted an eyebrow and smiled in shocked amusement. "What did you say?"

She fumbled for words. "I, uh, ummmm. . ." The other boys had leaned in a little closer and Mia knew she wasn't going to get off the hook. Closing her eyes, she simply blurted out. "I wouldn't want Kento's smelly old shorts anyway."

Sage laughed aloud as Rowen feigned astonishment. "Mia, how shocking. I didn't know you had it in you." He slipped into a grin and Mia couldn't help but laugh herself.

Kento grinned maliciously in her direction. "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe."

"Deal the cards, rock head." Sage slapped the deck down in front of him. "Ante up."

Mia followed suit and tossed three pieces of taffy into the center of the table. The boys had been playing simple five card draw, the most basic form of poker. Mia caught the cards as they were passed to her, letting her face reveal nothing as the hand came together.

"Anyone else want to open?" Kento asked. When he got a negative response, he tossed four more treats onto the pile.

"Bye-bye." Rowen threw down his cards.

"It's only candy, mate." Cye told him. "It's not even our candy. Why not have a go at it?"

"Trust me, there was no saving that hand."

"Same here." Sage relented as well.

"Well, I'm in." Cye added four more taffy to the pot.

"Me too." Mia spoke up.

"How interesting." Kento turned to Cye. "How many?"

"Two."

Kento dealt him two cards. "Mia?"

"I'm good."

Sage shot a look at Kento as Rowen spoke. "You don't want any cards?"

"No, these are fine." She smiled innocently at them.

Cye was clearly unnerved by Mia's poise, but Kento wasn't falling for it. "You're bluffing."

"Only one way to find out." She answered coolly.

His dark eyes sparkling, Kento drew one card for himself, clearly pleased with his luck. "Well Cye?"

He studied his friend carefully before throwing down his cards. "I get the feeling this is going to get too hot for me."

"Mia?"

She matched his look, surprised at her own boldness. "I'll raise you six."

"I'll see that." Kento pushed everything he had into the pot. "And raise you."

Mia couldn't believe she was going to do this, but she was getting swept up in the competitive moment. She pushed in her lot. "I see that, and I'll raise you a lap dance."

That got a reaction. "What?"

"You heard me." She imagined the loud thunk she heard to her immediate right was Sage's jaw hitting the floor.

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely."

Kento smirked. "You're on. I call."

"You first." Mia ordered.

"Gladly." He laid out his cards. "Three ladies."

"Three queens." Cye groaned before turning with apprehensive hope to Mia. "What have you got?"

She shrugged as she laid down two cards. "A pair of fours."

"Mia!" Rowen said, exasperated. "You bet all that on a pair of fours?"

"Ha ha!" Kento gloated, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back in a self-satisfied way. "I'm ready to collect."

"No, hold on a minute. You didn't let me finish." I've got a pair of fours and. . ." she put down the rest of her cards. "These three aces to keep them company."

Mia smirked with self-satisfaction as she leaned on the table. The look on Kento's face was priceless and Cye nearly pulled a muscle laughing. As it was, he fell to the floor and found it impossible to move. Rowen hid his face in his arm, though it did little to conceal his mirth while Sage sat back and crossed his arms. "You deserved that, you know."

Slowly, Kento turned to look at him, the shock wearing off slowly. "I guess you're right."

"It's okay." Mia told him as she gathered her winnings and slid up onto the couch. "I won't hold you to the lap dance."

"So you can hold it over my head that I welched out on a bet? I don't think so." With that, he jumped on the couch with lightning speed and proceeded to throw his backside right into her face, shaking his hips for her benefit. "Is it good for you, baby?"

She could barely breath she was laughing so hard as he gyrated before her. "Okay, okay, bet fulfilled." She smacked his butt.

"Hey lady, no touching." Kento whirled around. "We didn't even get to the good part."

She gave him a wry look. "It was more than I could stand as it was."

"If you enjoyed it that much, I do accept gratuities." He pulled at the waistband of his sweatpants suggestively. "Got a couple of bills?"

"All I've got is taffy, sorry." She pulled out his pants just enough to stick the candy in the waist. The laughter in the room had fallen to chuckles as Rowen, Sage, and Cye tried to calm down.

"I'll take it." He picked up the taffy, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth."

"Can we please play cards?" Rowen asked, now trying to sound annoyed. It was hard between Kento's antics and Cye gasping for air like a fish out of water beside him on the floor. "I live with crazy people."

"I dunno." Kento flopped down on the couch beside Mia. "That stunning performance took a lot out of me. I'm beat."

"Me too." Sage had stretched himself out on the other couch.

"Fine." Rowen threw down the cards, pouting a little as he climbed into the recliner. "I didn't want to play anymore, anyway."

"Don't be such a grouch." Kento leaned his head back. "You need to learn to relax."

"Shh!" Mia winked at him. "Cye's asleep."

Kento laughed as a gentle snore rose up from the floor. "That guy could fall asleep anywhere."

Mia stood and walked to the hall closet, pulling out a few old quilts and blankets that she kept there. By the time she got back to the living room, she found that Rowen and Kento had followed Cye's lead and drifted off themselves. Only Sage remained awake and he rose to help her cover their friends with the blankets. Then, he took one for himself and headed back for his couch.

"Are you staying here tonight, then?" Mia asked as she turned off a few of the lights.

"Yeah," Sage replied. "I just feel safer here with them, you know?"

"I know." Mia smiled sadly before she slowly headed for the door.

"Hey Mia?"

She turned around to see Sage gesturing to the opposite end of his couch. "You're more than welcome to stay, too. If you don't mind Cye's snoring."

Mia stood, considering for a moment before padding softly back through the room and crawling under the blanket with Sage. He made room, being respectful of her space as she curled up. "Thank you."

"No problem. Goodnight, Mia."

Within a minute, Sage's breathing evened and Mia knew that he was asleep. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and finally she felt safe. More than that, she felt as though she belonged. These guys were her friends and they accepted her for who she was, who she really was, beneath the bookish exterior.

With that thought to bring a smile to her lips, Mia finally fell asleep.


End file.
